Waking Dreams
by Mushy-Me
Summary: More than a year has passed since Oliver Davis left Japan to take home Eugene's body. Despite being left behind, Mai Taniyama continues with a normal life, now juggling her continued schooling with a mediocre job. When she finds herself getting caught up again with a returned Naru and the paranormal phenomena that she seems to magnetize, how long will her normal life last?
1. Chapter 1

Hi, please **feel free to respond** with any **polite constructive criticism**. **Abuse**, **insults** or criticism without a logically explained basis** will be ignored**.  
This is my first ever upload, and I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue with this.  
If I don't get many responses or any positive feedback from either this site or friends, I probably won't continue this for more than a couple chapters.  
So **please let me know if you would like to read more**, or if you would like me to head in any particular direction.  
I've given this a **higher age/content rating** as I have hopes to eventually make it rather **gruesome** or **graphic** with the **horror** sections, though hopefully not to too many people's dismay, I have very** little intention of writing anything explicitly sexual**.

I guess I'll just follow the general disclaimers;  
**I do not own, nor claim to own, Ghost Hunt in any way. Neither do I own any intellectual property related to Ghost Hunt other than what original content I have written here.**  
**Thank you, and please enjoy : )**

Waking Dreams, the Ghost Hunt returns.

Friday, January.

Shibuya, Tokyo.

A young girl with chestnut brown hair and matching eyes walked out of a quiet school building. It seemed empty for the most part, with only a small hand full of cars remaining in the adjoining parking lot and a few faint sources of light visible in and around the building, most likely from teachers with after school duties or cleaners who had been held back for one reason or another.  
A little way down the path, towards the school's front gate, the girl slows her pace to an almost stand still, whilst rummaging in her backpack.  
With it awkwardly slung across her shoulder, she begins crumpling and moving everything inside around. She drops a pen and a few scraps of paper which are quickly blown away and quietly curses before yanking out what she was looking for with a look of triumph.  
She pulls out the stem of the compact umbrella whilst simultaneously releasing the catch, letting out her shelter.

It had been gloomy all day, with overhanging clouds and a slight drizzle that had threatened to turn into a steady rain.  
The girl felt as if the weather had deliberately waited just until she was heading home before changing, as now she felt heavier drops falling on the small canopy above her.  
She cursed again quietly, picking up her pen and trotting quickly off the path and into the garden to catch up with a couple of the papers she dropped earlier, picking up each one as she went along.

The last piece was caught in the branches of a large shrub. A deep irritated frown came across her forehead and she felt her eye twitch, realising through the smearing wet ink that the paper was her essay due on Monday.  
THE ONE SHE JUST SPENT HOURS AFTER SCHOOL IN THE LIBRARY FINISHING!  
She lunged for it as it began to flutter with a new breeze, afraid that it would fly further into the large shrubs that bordered the garden bed.  
Her foot caught on something in the dark and she fell in a heap, scrunching the paper that she'd managed to grab and getting her umbrella caught up in the sharp protruding upper branches of the plant. She cursed whilst tugging sharply at her umbrella's handle, all the while getting more and more frustrated and flustered.

A powerful and chilling gust of wind pulled at the umbrella, and in turn her, pushing her against the twigs and branches of the shrub, earning her several scratches and one larger scrape up the side of her thigh, ripping through her tights. She earned another on her side where her shirt and jacket had been caught up, exposing soft skin to the abrasive and sharp branches.

She gasped at the pain of her side and fell flat onto her rump into the now muddy garden bed, forced off balance by another gust after finally letting go of her now shredded umbrella. She sighed, still frowning, and took in her situation.  
She was now soaking wet, muddy, miserably cold, had a broken umbrella and her scratches were stinging.  
Although it only felt like a sore and throbbing pain now and it didn't burn or sting as much as the smaller scrapes, she had a feeling that, hidden from her scrutiny in the growing darkness, the scrape on her side was most likely bleeding into her school shirt... which was white.  
She sighed in frustrated defeat once again and let out an annoyed grunt as she decided she aught to get up and just forget the damned umbrella, its not like it would be doing much good in keeping her dry from the now pouring rain, and she doubted that she could get any more soaked through.

She shuffled to the side and onto her knees, moving to stand, when a glint of light reflecting off metal caught her eye.  
She leaned in closer to the underneath part of the shrub, wincing as a sharp twig that she didn't see in the dark scraped her cheek.  
Covering it protectively from the rain, she pulled out her mobile phone from one of the lined pockets in her backpack, using it's light to show her what she now discovered was a small box.

The box was beautifully designed, made from a dark, richly coloured, wood that she thought could have been mahogany. It had a set of small and shiny golden hinges with a matching clasp holding it's lid in place.  
It was engraved with intricate designs and patterns of what seemed to be tiny roses. The engravings were even highlighted with what she thought looked like gold based paint, though she giggled quietly at herself, disregarding such a silly thought.  
After all, who would spend the time and money on gold paint and expensive wood only to be so careless with it that they lost it in a garden?  
Looking more closely she noticed tiny, less artistic carvings around the rim of the box's lid. They looked strangely familiar and after seeing them she felt in her gut that she really shouldn't touch it.

It was only then that she realised how cold it had gotten, and how even though the rain continued to pour consistently, the wind had reduced to nothing. Not even a tiny breeze to remind her of the gusts that were present only moments ago. It was eerily still.

Feeling a little creeped out, and eager to get home, she flinched realising that she aught to stop gawking at the box and get moving, it was only getting darker, colder and later and she needed to get up for work the next day.  
She sighed in thought, smiling to herself sadly, remembering her old job. The one she had at S.P.R. and her old boss, the narcissistic Naru! She finds herself chuckling at the likely jerk-ish insults that he would have had lined up at her expense if he saw her just sitting in the mud and rain.  
Snapping out of her daydream, she sadly remembered that it had been more than a year since she'd seen him, let alone since he'd even been in the same country.  
She knew he probably wasn't ever coming back.

She almost felt herself start to stand up and just walk away when guilt tugged her back to the box, considering if she should do something about it.  
She felt bad about leaving it there in the damp to get ruined or stolen. It looked pretty expensive and old, maybe even a family heirloom or something, and it might even have something more expensive and important inside, not that she would look, that just seemed too rude to her.  
She sighed, deciding that she aught to take it back into the school building where she could place it in the lost and found chute, as no one would likely be there to receive it directly.

She reached out with the tips of her fingers to grab the edge of the box, so that she could drag it close enough for her to pick up without earning herself another scratch to the sensitive skin of her face. As she touched it's surface she felt a sharp pain course up her arm, causing her to scream out in pain before collapsing into a faint.

All she saw before the darkness enveloped her was the pale, smirking face of a woman who's knotted and wet black hair hung down concealing most of her face. Even through the shadows and hair though, nothing could hide those eyes. Cold and lifeless and staring hungrily right at her.

_'She stood in a small wooden room, it's walls were engraved with huge roses. The engravings seemed to be highlighted with the same gold paint that was on the box in the garden.  
It was eerily silent in the room, and she felt a chill rush through her as she realised that there wasn't a door, or even a window anywhere. _

_She turned around, walking across the deep red coloured carpet, looking at all the walls to see if maybe there was a hidden door, latch or anything. After making two turns of the room she found herself making a slight whimper. _

_The moment she let out a sound she felt the room get colder.  
She heard the rustle of cloth behind her and spun to see the same woman that she'd glimpsed before standing across the room, she was wearing a white kimono, decorated with gold roses.  
It's floor-length sleeves and the many layers seemed to be fluttering in a breeze that wasn't there. The girl looked down at the bottom of the woman's sleeves and skirts to see them stained red.  
In the same instant she realised that the deep red carpet she and the woman were standing on was now a pool of blood, engulfing her ankles and slowly bubbling and rising, making her feel sick to the stomach with repulsion and fear. _

_The girl blinked and the next instant the woman had appeared within an inch of her face. She could practically taste the unmistakable scent of copper or tarnished metal on her breath. She knew from too many experiences that it was blood, and her fears were confirmed as the woman's smirk morphed into a full grin, showing bloodstained teeth, while blood freely poured from her mouth and down her neck and dress.  
And those eyes, they just made her want to run..._

_"It's mine!" A voice croaked icily into the girls mind as the woman grabbed the girl painfully by the arm, making her scream as she tried to jump back from the suddenly close woman and the pain of her hold.  
She tripped and the woman forced her down, into the now knee-deep blood pool. The girl tried desperately to keep her head above the liquid when she fell, but it didn't take long for the woman's unbelievable strength to force her under.  
She gasped just before she was pushed beneath the surface, taking a last gulp of air, whilst thrashing and trying to fight off the force above her.  
She couldn't last much longer, she felt a pain growing in her chest, telling her that she was out of time.  
She thought to herself, she was going to die... She was going die alone, drowning in blood... _

_Unable to hold on any longer, she coughed and gasped, feeling her lungs burn as they filled with the foreign liquid while the taste of blood filled her mouth.  
She still was vaguely aware of the cold and painful grip on her arm and the painful pressure on her chest, just below her throat. She felt her body convulse and gulped one last time. Before she blacked out she thought she heard someone in the distance call her name, but then it was just darkness._

Outside point of view:

He'd been waiting for nearly two hours at the little family owned restaurant across the street from the apartment lot that he'd been told she lived at now.  
Contrary to the run down looking lot across from it, the restaurant was a nice place. Well priced and the soup he'd ordered was well stocked with fresh seafood, herbs and spices, likely bought at the nearby market that day.

He'd chosen a table by the front, with a chair facing the window, hoping that he'd see her approaching the front gate when she came home.  
She should have finished school two and a half hours ago, and she should have been home by now. He wondered if she might still stay back after school telling ghost stories with her friends like she used to, before they met.  
That would be just like Mai, he thought to himself. Away from their investigations for only a year and she was probably straight back to recklessly wandering the streets alone after dark, whilst carelessly thinking so little of the dangers of ghost's that she would joke about them and her experiences.

He sighed and stood up to leave, he'd already bought four rounds of tea to keep the restaurant owner happy with him being there for so long, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with them asking him to leave for taking up a table and not buying much.  
He bought a small bag of some generic fortune cookies and thanked the woman at the entry counter. He then picked up his black umbrella from the rack beside the door, and left, stepping out into the constant drizzle that had kept up all day.

It didn't take long for him to reach Mai's school. He was surprised at how lucky she was to find somewhere so close.  
Not that the apartment lot had seemed all that great.  
He'd heard that she had trouble getting a decent place after S.P.R. closed down, as she could only find an average job at a department store.  
With only part-time hours and a lower wage, she could hardly expect to continue paying the rent for her old apartment.

He was lost in thought walking up to the parking lot, towards the building that seemed to house the library and administrative offices of the school, when he saw a young girl with chestnut brown hair walk out of the main entrance and down the path.  
He looked on from a distance, not sure if it was Mai. Watching as the girl struggled with her bag.  
She then pulled out her umbrella with a childish look of triumph and he smirked as she ran off the path after the paper she'd clumsily dropped from her bag.  
It was definitely Mai, he thought to himself, only she could be so childish and clumsy.

He watched her stumble across the grass and into the garden bed, picking up the pieces as she went. He cringed and began walking across the lot when he saw her trip and get knocked into a shrub whilst struggling with her now torn and broken umbrella, which was completely unmanageable in the growing wind.  
He himself had pulled in his own umbrella several minutes ago, preferring to get wet than struggle idiotically and end up having it burst inside out and break anyway.  
He was nearly across the lot when he saw her grasp slip from the handle and her fall onto her behind, he couldn't see it in the dark, but he smirked again knowing she would now be covered in mud.

He stopped at the edge of the parking lot, a little more than twenty paces from her.  
The wind had suddenly gone still without warning and a cold chill filled the air in it's place, he shivered slightly as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.  
Remembering why he was there, he began to take a step forward, when he saw Mai entranced by something that she was now shining her mobile phone's light on.  
He stared for a few moments, trying to see what she had found.  
He had to smirk again at the idea of her sitting in the mud and pouring rain like an idiot, staring at something under a bush without even seeming to realise that she was getting even more drenched.

He saw her reach out one hand towards whatever it was, protecting her face from the smaller twigs with the other while she leaned towards it. Her scream filled the air as she jolted back from the object, holding her arm in pain and then collapsing into a faint.  
He ran to her, kneeling and sitting her up against his chest as he checked her arm with the pen torch that he always carried with him.  
Pulling up her sleeve, he found a few welts where twigs and branches must have caught her through the fabric of her jacket. He found that the hand he had supporting her side had come away with blood.  
In a slight panic he lifted the edge of her shirt, discovering a large and somewhat deep scrape up her side. He cursed lightly, realising it was most likely caused from her falling against the shrub earlier.  
'_Just like Mai_', he thought, '_trying to hold onto that umbrella like an idiot and wearing such a thin jacket in this weather, not to mention a skirt and tights!_'

He could feel her shivering in his hold as she let out a whimper and a small moan of fear.  
Her body then convulsed in pain as if in a restless dream.

"Mai!"he said, shaking her gently, "Mai, wake up, you're safe!"  
He held her a little closer as the wrinkles of pain began to fade from her face and her body stopped shaking. Sighing a little in relief at her relaxing, though she still didn't wake, he turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

Shining his light underneath the shrub, he saw what she had found. A small mahogany box with gold-lined engravings of roses.  
He frowned suddenly when he noticed the other engravings in the lid, he couldn't tell what it said without Lin's translation, but he new Sanskrit or something derived from the same symbols when he saw it.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and used the speed dial to make a call,

"Lin," he said without waiting for a greeting, "We have a problem"...


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! First off I'd like to give a huge **thank you **to the few** people that have reviewed the first chapter!** Not only did it make me feel great that someone was actually reading my story, but I definitely** did need that constructive criticism** about the **shotty paragraphs** o_o  
I wrote it on a tablet, and with it's slim columns and limited view I thought they were fine. After checking them on my family computer I saw that they were really way WAY too long and complicated and there should really be at least SOME gaps between sentences.  
If I can figure out how to edit the actual copy of the first chapter that is up, I will attempt to break it up so that anyone reading it in the future won't have to slave away, dying at the horrible format.  
Knowing me though, I probably went over the top with spacing in this Chapter, but I hope it will at least be easier to follow. None of those blurred into the one massive clump problems.  
Also; another thing. I was informed by one of my friends that I seemed to** jump through different past/present tenses incorrectly**. It's now something that I'm conscious of, and I am **trying to correct it** in this chapter, and as I write following ones.  
Hopefully that bad habit will eventually fade with more practice and **more thorough proof reading.  
[Edit: Thank you for the review, Ariana Taniyama.** I did miss a section that was meant to be re-viewed in the outside P.O.V. Sorry about the mistake, I tried to fix it as best that I could xD]

**[Edit 2: I have no plans on abandoning this story, and I even have the plot line for the next two to three chapters organised. The only problem, which I'm sorry to say, is that I'm having huge trouble getting it into the proper words. That, as well as juggling between work and my tendency to need copious amounts of sleep to function, has made this allot more difficult to complete than I'd originally anticipated. I've tried to have a go at putting the plot into words tonight, but I'm just not in the right frame of mind and I'm not fresh enough to be giving it my best (and I'd rather not accept anything but my best). **

**I hope that I can provide at least two more chapters by Mid next week, as I have a few days off coming up. Please try and forgive me for taking so long and being so unstructured with my uploading. **

**I do not own, nor claim to own, Ghost Hunt in any way. Neither do I own any intellectual property related to Ghost Hunt other than what original content I have written here.**  
**Thank you, and please enjoy : )**

Waking Dreams, the Ghost Hunt returns. Chapter 2.

Friday, January.  
Shibuya, Tokyo.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and used the speed dial to make a call,

"Lin," he said without waiting for a greeting, "We have a problem"...

"I'm on my way. Are you still at Mai's apartment?" Lin answered seriously without hesitation.

"No, at her school. I waited but she didn't come, I went looking for her here." Naru answered as he heard the sound of the door to Lin's van closing and it's motor starting.

"You found her?" A distant voice came from the other end.  
Lin must have put his mobile on loud speaker so he could use both hands while reversing out of their apartment block's narrow driveway.

"Yes. I saw her, she found something though. She touched it and..." Naru paused mid sentence as he noticed something was wrong with Mai.  
She wasn't moving at all, not even shivering anymore. He shone his pen torch towards her face and saw blood trickle from her mouth. He checked her vital signs; she still had a slow pulse but…

"She's not breathing!" He called into the phone as he quickly put it on loudspeaker and dropped it beside him.  
The rain had subsided for now, so he didn't need to worry about it cutting out from getting too wet. Lying Mai down, he pumped her chest with both hands, beginning the process of resuscitation.

"What?! What happened? Noll?!" Lin's shocked response came from the garden bed.

More blood flowed and gargled from her mouth with each push, telling him that it was most likely coming from her lungs. Uncertain of what was happening, but with no other options, he continued trying to resuscitate her. He pinched her nose whilst simultaneously opening her mouth, ignoring the blood whilst blowing air into her lungs.  
The moment he stopped breathing out, a larger amount of blood flowed from her mouth and nose as she began choking and spluttering.

"Noll!, Answer me, I'm at the school! Which area are you in?" Lin's exasperated voice came muffled from the garden bed again.  
Mai was barely conscious, but thankfully her body's reflexes finally kicked in. After Naru leant her head to the side, she continued to choke and splutter out what seemed to be the last of an unbelievable amount of blood. Her breathing returned to a relatively normal, yet laboured, pattern.

Naru picked up the phone, turning the speaker off so that he wasn't deafened by Lin's next attempt to get a response.

"It was blood." Naru spoke into the phone.

"Huh...?" Lin responded quietly. He pulled up into the school parking lot, his headlights revealing the place in the garden where Naru was kneeling. As he pulled open the van's door, preparing to hang up the phone, he heard Naru's quiet response,

"She was choking, drowning, in blood…"

Mai's point of view:

'_Uhgg, my chest hurts so bad_...', she thought, '_and my arm..._'.  
She opened her eyes slightly to a glaring light, squinting to make out the dark shapes looking over her. She heard one of the shadowed shapes start talking as she began to stir. She realised it must have been a man's voice, it sounded familiar but she couldn't make out what he said.

'_I'm so cold..._', she just kept thinking, shivering in her saturated clothes.  
She opened her eyes again, she was glad they were finally doing what she wanted them to do, getting used to the light and showing her surroundings.  
Though, once she recognised the two shadows, she wasn't sure she was really that glad anymore.

"N...Naru?" she coughed violently, curling up in pain from the force and pain of her lungs.  
She went to touch the sticky hair that was glued to the side of her neck, it was getting itchy as whatever had coated it began to dry. Panicking when she saw blood spotting her hands and remembering the woman from before, she tried to sit up. She moved too quickly, making her head spin. Frightened by the memory, she tried to speak again.

"The... Woman..." she croaked, her voice lined with fear and the effort making her cough more.  
She felt Naru's embrace tighten as her attempt to sit up failed.

"Calm down, Mai. You're okay now." Naru said quietly, supporting her weak and trembling body while rubbing her back gently. She relaxed at his hold and the safe feeling that she received from hearing his voice. '_Strange. Naru's being so kind... Maybe this is just a dream again_.' Mai thought to herself before falling into a dreamless sleep. This time, when the darkness enveloped her, she felt as if it were a comforting warm blanket being draped over her, keeping her safe.

Outside point of view:

Lin ended the phone call as he exited the van. He left the van's headlights on hoping that they might bring the scene into a manageable relief. He walked across the grass and the path between himself and Naru before seeing the scene properly.  
Freezing mid step, he held his breath at what he saw, fearing the worst.  
There was so much blood. So much that he couldn't tell where the bleeding had started.  
From her mouth down to her neck and through her hair, Mai was covered with the red substance.

"Noll?", Lin asks cautiously, worried about what carnage he might have to deal with if she were dead.  
He knew he couldn't hold Naru back if he lost control of himself.

"She'll be okay." Came the absent response from Naru, he seemed lost, just stroking her hair. Lin sighed in relief and stepped close enough that he could kneel by her side.  
He could see now that she was trembling and breathing heavily.  
Mai's eyes began to flutter and she cringed at the glaring light of the headlights, the movement caught Lin's attention and he began try and instruct Naru to some sense.  
"Come on, let's move her to the van, she needs a hospital. She's lost too much blood." He began.

"It's not hers." Naru answered as his face seemed to regain it's usual unreadable mask.  
Confused, Lin opened his mouth to ask what he could possibly have meant. He stopped as Mai opened her eyes again, properly this time.

"N...Naru?" She asked, before breaking into an explosion of coughs.  
Lin put a hand on Naru's shoulder, trying to remind him that they needed to move. She was still obviously dazed and only half aware of her surroundings. She tried to jump into a sitting position when she caught the sight of blood on her hand, dizzying herself.

"Th...Wu..." They heard her try to say, releasing yet another series of painful sounding coughs.  
She eased back into Naru's hold, unable to use her own strength to stay upright. Lin had shot a glance towards Naru, wondering if he understood her croaked outburst.  
Seeing Naru's frown deepen and his arms pull Mai closer, he sighed and shrugged, as if knocking the thought off his shoulders.  
They would find out what had happened once she regained her strength. It was obvious that she was weak and still afraid of something.  
There was no point in tormenting her with memories while she was hardly concious.

"Calm down, Mai. You're okay now." Naru comforted as Mai relaxed against him.  
She then seemed to fall back into a calm sleep, her laboured breathing recovering and slowing a little.  
Naru slipped of his large black coat, resting it gently over Mai's shoulders. She smiled a little, still deep in sleep, and curled into his collar as he lifted her from the ground.

"Wait", Naru called as Lin started to climb into the driver's seat.  
They had just secured Mai into one of the back seats and Lin was preparing to leave. He raised a brow in question.

"We need to get what she found", he answered.  
Naru lead the way to the place that they had been before without even looking back to see if Lin would follow.

"I thought the symbols might be a derivative of Sanskrit." Naru said after shining his torch onto the box.  
"You're right." Lin answered frowning.

"Do you think it's a curse?" Naru asked without emotion, staring blankly at the box.  
Lin simply pulled it closer with a broken branch. He removed his coat and wrapped it carefully around the intricate box before picking it up and taking it back to the van.

"I don't have time to translate it. Though from what I glanced, I believe it's designed only to affect people through direct contact. I'll find out more when we have time, once she's in the hospital and being taken care of." He said gesturing with a nod towards the still sleeping Mai.  
Naru said nothing. He only nodded as they pulled out of the school gates, his face tense but unreadable...


End file.
